Now Serving Cherry Shortcakes
by Sakucherryblossoms
Summary: A display stand of deliciously baked one-shots. Guess who's on the menu today as the most wanted treat? ( Sakura-Centric )


Hey everyone! This is a little project Art-Chan (Art of Harmony) and I have decided to come up with! You can thank her for the title (I know I did!) This will be a collection of one-shots with Sakura and many others!

Note: I take ideas, suggestions, and requests for future pairing and stories!

Chapter Title: The Trying Times of a Self-Confessed Cannibal

Chapter Prompt: His mission was to watch the pink haired girl that was to be used as bait to lure the Kyuubi. He found her attractive, at least part of him did. The other part, however, wanted to eat her. SakuXxZetsu

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

His morning started off as it usually did. He had woken, and instead of eating right away he took a walk around his garden instead. Both sides of his personality agreed that plants were much friendlier than people, and he enjoyed their company more so than anyone else's.

Walking back to the base, he was more than pleased to get a mission. Leader-sama had told him to dispose of three bodies that were located several miles away from their hideout. It was obvious these ninja had gotten too close to the Akatsuki building, and Pein hadn't wanted their hideout to be discovered.

Throwing on his Akatsuki robe, Zetsu quickly left the hideout. Traveling through the ground, his thoughts immediately went to the shinobi that had to die. "Such a waste," the white side of him thought, while the black side of him was more than happy to eat the bodies. Well, the white side of him was delighted to eat the bodies too he had just wished they would have been a little fresher.

Quickly and efficiently he arrived at the intended location, as per usual. As he popped out of the ground, he found his situation very satisfying. On the forest floor there laid three dead Konoha anbu members. Smirking to himself, Zetsu walked to the first body and began to devour it, literally.

He always liked to eat the body's whole, whenever he could. And he liked to eat the bodies from head to toe. It was always more satisfying hearing their neck crack at the beginning of the meal, as opposed to the end of it. And he never enjoyed looking at their faces for too long.

This was what he was in the Akatsuki for, really. When Leader-sama asked someone to get rid of bodies, the best person for the job was Zetsu, and he was very proud of that. He did so without leaving a trace behind. He would do whatever Leader-sama asked of him, but by far, getting rid of dead bodies was his favorite and easiest task.

Human bodies were delicious, the bi-colored man thought with a crazed grin. They were juicy, especially when not cooked, and they held all the protein of regular meat, humans just had more flavor. Zetsu wasn't stupid, he knew that many people found eating human bodies to be taboo, he just didn't care. It wasn't right to leave a good healthy body to just rot. And if they were dead, what was the problem with it anyways?

Wiping the blood that had been dripping from his mouth, Zetsu walked to his next victim and smirked. There would be enough leftovers to feed him for at least two more days; Zetsu could only really eat one body at a time.

Sighing, he realized that wasn't true. It depended on how hungry he was, and when the last time he had fed. If he was very hungry, he could eat two average female bodies without even thinking about it.

Grabbing the two other bodies, Zetsu began making his way back to the Akatsuki hideout. Sometimes, even though he was full, Zetsu found it hard not to eat the rest of the bodies. Sometimes after they had been dead for a while they just didn't taste right.

Once arriving back at the hideout, Zetsu noticed an unfamiliar chakra signature within the building. Raising an eyebrow, Zetsu threw the two dead bodies into his room. The room was dark, save for a section in the corner of his room that held a light that was too bright, and was cold. Both things allowed him to store bodies in his room at a moment's notice without drawing much attention from the other Akatsuki members.

In that bright corner of the room, however, Zetsu liked to keep several exotic plants; not many people in the Akatsuki, or outside of it knew Zetsu was an avid gardener.

He checked his plants before heading to Leader-sama's office; he needed to report on his success of disposing the bodies. Walking to Leader-sama's office, Zetsu began reminiscing on how delicious his prior meal had been. Usually when the person was a higher ranking shinobi, they would taste better; it must have been the chakra that made them taste so good.

Anbu's were always his favorite corpses to eat, well other than s-class nin that was. He had gotten a good taste of Deidara's arm one time, Zetsu thought with a slight thrill, and other than the slight salty taste because of all the clay the blond used, Zetsu thought that Deidara's arm had probably been the best tasting arm he had ever tasted.

Knocking on the door, Zetsu waited patiently until he heard his leader's voice. Entering the dark room, Zetsu bowed before speaking.

"I have finished, Leader-sama," White Zetsu started. " **They were fucking delicious."**

"I am glad you found them to be appetizing," Pein spoke to the bicolored male across from him. Pein was surrounded by shadows, and the only part Zetsu could clearly see were his eyes. Even if Zetsu could have been able to see Pein's face, he doubted he would have been able to read anything from it. "I have another request, though you may not eat the person in this mission.

"Down in the cells I have one of the Kyuubi's teammates. I need her to be good and frightened so she will cooperate with us. I expect you to get the job done within a short period of time."

Nodding once, White Zetsu was more than happy to deal with this request, while Black Zetsu was a little less than happy. " **I can't eat her?"**

"Not until after the Kyuubi has come for her," Pein said while looking at Zetsu once more. "And that is an order Zetsu."

"Hai, Leader-sama," Zetsu said with a bow as he left the room. Standing back in the hallway, Zetsu thought over his options as to how to scare the female.

Most females were small, weak, and should never have been allowed to become shinobi. Maybe torture would be the way to go? No, if she was a kunochi from the leaf then she should be used to many different methods of torture. Shaking his head slightly, he tried to think up a different strategy. Maybe he could eat one of the anbu bodies in front of her? That would freak her out right?

Grinning, Zetsu walked back into his room. Grabbing one of the dead bodies that lay there, he quickly threw it over his shoulder and started towards the jail cells in the lowest level of the Akatsuki building. This would certainly be entertaining…

XxxX

Sakura shivered as she kneeled in the corner of the jail cell. She couldn't believe the week she was having… it probably couldn't get any worse.

The week started off with her being summoned to the Hokage after two full day shifts at the hospital. The pinkette had wanted to go home to sleep, but she knew couldn't ignore Tsunade-sama's summons; Naruto had tried that once and he had severely paid the price because of it.

While at the Hokage's office, Sakura had learned that she was being called in to lead an unexperienced team of anbu on their first mission. Sakura had been quick to turn down the mission, but Tsunade had promised her it would be an easy one, and one that would come with a big pay check.

Easy my ass, Sakura thought with a frown as she looked at her current amenities. The first part of the mission had gone well, other than the constant jumpiness of the green anbu members. Even during the night, Sakura found herself getting very little sleep because of all the flinching and jumping from her teammates.

After five days of being on high-alert with little sleep, Sakura had felt like punching down the entire forest that had surrounded them… it didn't help that it had started to rain a few days before, and the pinkette had forgot her poncho.

Trudging through Amegakure soaked, sleep-deprived, and pissed off beyond belief, Sakura and her team had suddenly found themselves attacked by the Akatsuki.

The group had apparently gotten too close to their hideout, and were being attacked because of it. Sakura and her team had fought as well as they could, but really it hadn't been a fair fight.

Even though Sakura was sure she would have been able to take care of the stupid blue skinned man that had stolen almost all of her chakra, she knew she wouldn't have stood a chance against his Uchiha partner.

The battle between the two teams had only lasted thirty minutes; her teammates had all died within the first five.

Groaning to herself, Sakura ran a hand through her dirty hair. Her week was just getting better too, Sakura thought sarcastically.

Her long pink haired tresses were snarled and muddy, and Sakura was pretty sure Kisame had hacked off a few strands making her hair uneven. Her body felt like shit, and she couldn't heal it because the Akatsuki had been continuously sucking her chakra dry. And, Sakura was probably being held as some sort of damsel in distress for her idiot blond teammate to rescue…

Kami-sama she hated playing the victim. She was lucky Tsunade-sama kept Naruto on a short leash, or she was sure the blond would be racing toward Amegakure as quickly as he could.

Running her hand through her maimed pink locks, Sakura sighed in frustration as she closed her eyes. She couldn't even sense the chakra signatures that she knew were in the building; the chakra seals on the doorway and walls prevented her from even knowing how many people were within the building she was being kept.

Feeling a surge of chakra at the doorway, Sakura opened her eyes and was slightly shocked at the person that stepped into her jailed room.

"I'm here to interrogate you," the male said as he threw the body of one of the anbu members on the floor in front of her. " **But I'm going to eat a snack first."**

The different voices and personality traits caused Sakura to believe the person in front of her had a split personality disorder.

"Snack?" Sakura asked out of genuine curiosity, because she didn't seem him bring any food with him. The anbu's body in front of her didn't bother her any; she was sure the Akatsuki would learn that she didn't have any attachment to him, so he wouldn't be able to use his body against her for means of interrogation.

"Yes," the man said politely at first as he took a step closer to her. Sakura frowned when she watched his mismatched eyes look her up and down; he licked his lips before he continued. " **But you look so delicious… I want to eat you now too."**

Sakura couldn't prevent the snort of disbelief that escaped her at the utterly ridiculous week she had been having. She was probably going crazy wasn't she? After all that had happened, she was being interrogated by a cannibal who wanted to eat her?

Kami, her day was just getting better and better.

XxxX

When Zetsu had arrived at the cells, he hadn't been very concerned with the prisoner. He had done many intimidation interrogations before, and he thought this one would be as easy as the others.

What girl wouldn't be afraid of someone who liked to eat people? Zetsu walked into the room with a smug smile on his face, but what happened next confused the bi-colored male to no end.

She had started snorted at him, and then started to laugh… He wasn't sure if she was laughing at him or herself, but Zetsu hadn't made a joke, had he? He thought back to what he had said, and decided the girl was either confused or going crazy. To clear up any confusion the girl might have experienced, Zetsu started to explain.

" **I want to eat you girl,"** Black Zetsu said with a creepy grin as he took a step closer to her. " **Give me your hand… I'm sure Leader-sama wouldn't be mad if you were missing a finger or two…"**

The girl's laughter had only increased at his last words, and Zetsu could only look at the girl in complete bewilderment. He knew he had not said anything funny, and yet the girl's laughter was so loud it bounced off the walls within the room.

Taken aback and a little pissed off, Zetsu took a few menacing steps closer and stopped right in front of the girl. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're a bi-colored cannibal," the girl had said after she had caught her breath and stopped laughing.

" **Aren't you afraid of me?"** Zetsu asked with a glare as the girl shook her head.

"I think I'm going crazy," the girl voiced out loud.

"What's your name?" White Zetsu asked as he stared at the girl in front of him; he could only mentally agree with her last sentence.

"Sakura Haruno," she said with a sigh as she leaned against the back of the wall for support.

Sakura didn't even seem to be concerned with him as she sat lazily watching him. She didn't seem concerned or even scared of him… that thought both bewildered and pissed him off greatly.

"Cherry blossoms, huh?" Zetsu asked as he eyed Sakura up and down again. " **I wonder if you taste like them."**

Sakura's laughter filled the room again, and that was when Zetsu decided that she was crazy.

XxxX

He hadn't ate the anbu member in front of her that day… Zetsu had been too weirded out by the way she was acting to even think about eating something at that moment.

The girl had obviously cracked under the pressure of being kidnapped, and Zetsu hoped that would make his job a lot easier… it however, didn't.

Whenever Zetsu would go back to try and interrogate Sakura, she would laugh at him and then ignore his taunting words. To say Zetsu was becoming more and more frustrated with the situation would be a lie. He was way past the point of feeling only frustrated.

So when Sakura started laughing at him as he entered the room with a severed arm, Zetsu slammed her against the wall and felt a great deal of satisfaction when she froze against him. Pushing his body closer, he himself froze.

He had never been close enough to smell her before, let alone touch her. Feeling the smooth skin on Sakura's warm arm and smelling her delicious scent, Zetsu could stop himself from leaning forward.

He felt Sakura shudder when he pressed his face against her neck to get an even better smell. Feeling her the blood flow speed up in her jugular vein, Zetsu felt his eyes dilate.

Her scent smelled of the tree she was named after, and after being cooped up in the jail cell for over two weeks, it was surprising. He was partial to the smell of dead bodies, but Sakura's scent was new, and it made his own blood flow faster.

Moving his head slightly from her neck, Zetsu's eyes walked slowly up drinking in her features until they rested on her eyes. Even now she didn't look like she was afraid of him, and why the fuck did it look like she was going to laugh again?

Moving back from Sakura's body completely, Zetsu threw the severed arm on the ground in front of her. Zetsu watched Sakura's eyes flash to the severed limb before looking up to him in question.

" **I brought you a snack this time,"** Zetsu said as a warm feeling went through his body. Would she think he was being serious? It was his turn to laugh at her, because he refused to let her laugh at him anymore…

"… A Snack?" Sakura questioned. Her voice cracked from lack of use, and Zetsu found himself smiling like the chesire cat.

"Of course," Zetsu said as he watched her grimace. Oh, he would love to make her actually eat it… his blood raged through his body at the thought. " **Aren't you hungry?"**

"That's… really gross," Sakura said while she kicked the limb back toward Zetsu. Zetsu took his time bending over to grab the arm, and sent her a glare for handling his food in such a way.

Looking her in the eye, he took a large bite of the flesh and smirked at her reaction. She wasn't laughing at him this time, and she looked completely grossed out. He should have ate that anbu member in front of her the first time they had met.

While he was still chewing one of the fingers, he lifted the limb and nodded in her direction. He watched her flinch before he smirked. " **Wanna bite?"**

"You're disgusting," Sakura said while she leaned against the wall. It seemed the girl had gained some semblance of sanity.

"So that's a no?"

"That's a definite no."

XxxX

"When did you start to eat people?" Sakura found herself asking before she could stop. Watching the Akatsuki member eat body parts every day was disgusting, but it also caused her curiosity to rise.

He had started to come in daily and would always bring a different part of a human body to eat in front of her. It completely disgusted her, but Sakura was curious as to how it had started, and when it had started. Was his eating people something his family did when he was young, or was it something he had started to do just because?

Sakura knew she was crazy thinking these types of things, but after being stuck in the same room for almost four weeks, Sakura couldn't help but wonder about the person who visited her every day.

" **I've always been a carnivore,"** Zetsu said with a slight shrug as he sat in the chair in front of her. Her room held a stone slab bed, a toilet and a sink; Zetsu had started to bring a chair with him a few days ago… it seemed he stayed longer when he brought the chair. "Why do you ask?"

"Always been a carnivore?" Sakura asked in confusion. "Does that mean you've never had any vegetables or fruits? How do you get the needed vitamins from only eating meat?"

"My body allows me to break down the other meat's nutrients," Zetsu said while he finished the foot that he had been eating. " **Why would I want to eat fruits or vegetables? Eating plants sounds awful."**

"Wait," Sakura said as she leaned against the stone slab bed she sat on. "Why did you make it sound like eating plants is some sort of crime? Is it because you have that green thing around you?"

" **No,"** Zetsu said defensively as he frowned. Sakura could feel that this was a sensitive topic, and she wanted to explore it more.

"Wait," Sakura said as her hand twitched in curiosity. "Is that actually a plant that is connected to your body? How does that actually work?"

Even with the situation she was currently in, Sakura couldn't help herself from being inquisitive; that had always been in her nature. Said nature was shining through as she raised her hand up to touch the green venus fly trap flaps that sprang from his shoulders.

Zetsu slipped just out of Sakura's reach, and Sakura almost laughed at the scared look in his eyes… It was almost like he was running away from her. Sakura held in the amused chuckle that threatened to escape her; she knew how much he didn't like it when she laughed at him; even though she found him kind of amusing.

After being stuck at the Akatsuki base for a month, Sakura had started to develop a type of mutual tolerance for the ninja before her. Zetsu hadn't been as bad as she had thought he would be, especially after watching him eat other people's body parts every time she saw him.

"If that is a plant," Sakura said as she tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "Does it soak up nutrients from the sun?"

Sakura watched Zetsu ignore her completely as he grabbed his chair and left. So questions about him caused him to be uncomfortable, huh? Sakura grinned at the thought… maybe this newly found knowledge would be able to help decrease the boredom she felt being held within the room.

XxxX

The talks they had been having over the last few weeks had been interesting to say the least, Zetsu found himself musing as he walked to her jail cell. She had been rather inquisitive about himself, which had never happened before. Though, Zetsu was more used to dead bodies than live ones… Maybe if he hung out with people while they were alive they would question him more?

Somehow, Zetsu thought that the answer to his question would be no. After spending more and more time with Sakura, Zetsu had found himself becoming more comfortable with her as time went on. He couldn't remember the last time he had thought that way about another person.

He frowned as his thoughts went to Sakura. Even when he wasn't in the room with her, it appeared that his thoughts constantly drifted to her. She was just so different than what he was used to. Even the other Akatsuki members he had to deal with weren't anything like her.

Opening her cell door, Zetsu dragged the chair that sat outside her room in with him as he went. Sitting allowed Zetsu to spend more time in the cell room with her. He didn't mind standing, but he didn't like watching her from above… it made him feel creepier than he already felt.

Setting the chair down a few feet away from her, Zetsu looked to her in slight confusion as her food plate stood untouched before her. She had usually finished her meal before he had arrived; he hadn't come early had he?

"You're not early," Sakura said and a light shone in her eyes. Of course she would know what he was thinking, Zetsu thought with a frown. "I just wanted to eat lunch with you today."

Raising an eyebrow, Zetsu watched as Sakura took the top off of her plate. He didn't frown at the meal until he saw the greens that were off to the side of his plate… were those green beans?

Oh, Zetsu thought with a frown, he knew what she was doing. She was going to do exactly what he had been doing to her over the past few weeks… She was going to eat those green beans in front of him.

Instead of having chopsticks to use, because they could be used as a weapon, Sakura instead got to eat with her fingers. Grabbing a strand of green beans, Sakura brought the vegetable to her mouth and munched on it with a grin.

As she brought another green bean to her mouth, Zetsu couldn't even think about eating the fingers he had brought for lunch. How could she be eating those? Plants were the one thing in his life that had been a constant, and it was almost excruciating to see Sakura eat something that he would consider his friends. Is this what she felt when she saw him eat a body?

"Want some?" Sakura asked in a teasing tone as she lifted a green bean up to his mouth. It was almost like she could see his distress.

Zetsu flinched slightly before he held his ground. She had scared him off before when she had tried to get too close with her questions and even her body. He had yet to let her touch him, even though he had already touched her more than once… her scent was just too enticing for him, and he had a hard time being close to her.

The touches were only when he had to get his point across and stop her from laughing at him though…

Glaring forward, Zetsu watched Sakura's hand recede before she brought the green bean to her mouth. "I guess that's a no then."

"A **definite** no," Zetsu voiced his opinion with a frown.

XxxX

Sakura found herself frowning across from him as she looked to her plate.

"Is there something **wrong?"** Zetsu asked in front of her. Sakura's frown deepened when she realized that Zetsu was amused.

"There's no vegetables or fruits on this plate," Sakura said as she looked to the plate of fish and chicken. "How am I supposed to get all the nutrients I need to stay healthy and alive?"

" **I only eat meat,"** Zetsu said in a smug way. "And I'm healthy."

"You're different," Sakura said with a sigh as she looked at the plate in front of her. "Does me eating fruits and vegetables really bother you that much?"

" **I don't know what you're talking about,"** Zetsu said with a grin.

"You talked to whoever fixed my meal plates didn't you?" Sakura accused as she brought the fish up to her mouth to take a bite. "Do you really not eat anything that has plants in it then? What about tea, or medicine that is made out of herbs?"

" **I do not require such things,"** Zetsu said with a dismissive shake of his hand. "I heal on my own without medicine… and I refuse to drink tea."

"What?" Sakura asked in surprise. "You're really missing out. Tea is delicious… Do you only drink water?"

" **Yes,** " Zetsu said. "Though I do grow my own plants in my garden."

Sakura had to smile at the tidbit of information; he had been sharing a lot more lately. It was obvious he wasn't trying to, as Sakura looked at the confused look on his face.

"You garden?" Sakura asked as her smile grew. "I tried to garden once… it didn't end so well."

"You should use corpses as fertilizer," Zetsu said in all seriousness… Sakura's eyes widened at that. " **Dead bodies aren't just delicious…** they're useful too."

XxxX

Zetsu felt himself grinning as he dragged a body through the base. Today marked the start of the fourth month of Sakura being in the base, and Zetsu had visited her daily. Leader-sama hadn't gave him any other missions; he was solely focused on Sakura.

She hadn't been able to laugh at him much over the past two months, but he also hadn't been able to disgust her as much as he had wanted to. The two had been eating people and vegetable parts in each other's company, and though both members were grossed out, they were also increasingly amused with each other's antics.

Zetsu was going to go all out today, though. He was tired of just eating parts of the body in front of her, and had decided he would eat a whole body in front of her. He was hoping this would be the type of thing to give him the one up against Sakura; she'd be begging him to stop.

Or, she'd be incredibly curious about how he was able to eat a human whole… he was really hoping it would be the former.

As he was outside of the jail cell, Zetsu frowned when he felt a flicker of charka run through his right little finger. All of the Akatsuki members wore a ring as a means of communication, and Zetsu's boar ring was on his right little finger. The flickering chakra in his ring meant that Leader-sama wanted to meet with him.

Dumping the body down in front of the jail cell door, Zetsu headed towards Leader-sama's office. He had been updating Leader-sama on his progress every few weeks or so. Zetsu hadn't scared Sakura as much as he had hoped when he had taken on this mission, but then again he assumed Sakura wasn't one that could be easily scared.

Arriving quickly to the office, Zetsu knocked and waited for Leader-sama to allow him entry.

"Leader-sama," Zetsu greeted with a customary bow. He wasn't happy to have his time with Sakura or his meal interrupted, but Leader-sama was the one in charge, and he couldn't ignore the summons.

"Zetsu," Pein greeted coolly as his form hid in the shadows. "How is the interrogation going with the kunochi?"

The question threw him off guard, but he was able to recover quickly.

"Good **,"** White Zetsu said with a grin as his mind wandered to the last time he had ate a foot in front of her. It turned to a frown though, when his mind wandered to the last time she had been eating a salad… the salad had been excruciating to watch her eat… maybe the intimidation tactics hadn't been going as well as he had thought. " **She's already cracked… I just need a little longer to break her completely."**

"You have one week," Leader-sama said, and Zetsu found himself frowning. "Konoha has sent a search team out for her, and they will be here within the next few weeks… They have the Copy-nin, the Toad Sannin, and the Kyuubi with them."

" **Why only one week then?"** Zetsu couldn't help himself from asking as an unsettling feeling hit his stomach… was this indigestion? He hadn't ate since yesterday, so he didn't think it was.

"Because if you cannot break her," Leader-sama said. "I'm going to give her to Itachi. I know he'll be able to break her in the way I want… Your means are taking too long."

"Hai, **Leader-sama,"** Zetsu said with a bow as he left. His mind was racing through everything that had happened over the past few months, and those thoughts caused the queasy feeling in his stomach to worsen. He could honestly say he didn't want Sakura to be broken by Itachi…

The Uchiha tore apart people mentally; he made it so the person would never be the same again. Of course that's how he had started off wanting to do to Sakura, he just couldn't bring himself to do so however.

Sakura had too much spunk to have her brain ripped apart by Itachi; she was too lively, like the trees she had been named after. He'd have to do something to stop it from happening.

Walking slowly back to jail cells, Zetsu felt a plan form in his head. The plan made his stomach clench some more, but he knew he would have to do it if he wanted Sakura at least halfway herself… He refused to let a cherry blossom wilt before it's time.

XxxX

Sakura ate through the cucumber that sat on her plate. To say she was surprised when Zetsu hadn't come and visited her at the beginning of the week would be an understatement. It had been the first time since she had first met Zetsu that he had not come and visited her.

After thinking about it, Sakura had assumed he was on a mission. He was a member of the Akatsuki, and he would have to be doing missions at some point. When he hadn't showed up the next day, Sakura had just assumed he was still gone.

After she had not seen Zetsu in five days, she found herself getting a little worried before she could even stop herself. Zetsu had been the one constant thing in her life since she had arrived at the Akatsuki hideout. Without him her life seemed so… so boring.

Sighing, Sakura pushed the plate away from her as she curled her legs up under her. Was he on a mission like she had thought, or was there something else that was keeping him away from her?

The two had been pushing each other with what they had been eating, and talking about the last time they had been together. Sakura had almost successfully thrown a pea into his mouth… that hadn't seemed like something that would have set him off or make him angry enough not to visit her again, did it?

Biting her lip in wonder, Sakura froze when she felt the chakra seals on the door open. Turning, she found herself coming face to face with Zetsu…

The blood that had dried on his lips did not bother her as much as it would have if she would have seen it at the beginning; she had gotten used to the blood of his victims as he ate their body parts in front of her. The one thing that did bother her was the look in his eyes… His eyes were blank, and it seemed he couldn't look her in the eye.

Zetsu didn't say anything as he walked straight toward her; he didn't even drag his chair in like usual. Feeling insecure with the situation, Sakura uncurled her legs and scooted back on her bed slab.

Her eyes widened as Zetsu followed her movement; his body only inches away from her own as he leaned above her.

"What-"

" **Open your mouth,"** Zetsu said seriously, and Sakura flinched at his tone. She had noticed that whenever his tone darkened she assumed it was the dark side of him talking… the side that was less polite, and tended to care less about what she thought and did.

"I'm not-"

Zetsu's hand gripped the side of Sakura's face harshly and Sakura flinched as his tight fingers kept her mouth pried open.

With the hand that wasn't keeping her mouth open, Zetsu reached into his cloak and grabbed something. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the blood that was pouring from his hand as he brought that something into view.

"Zetsu!" Sakura tried to escape his grip again. Was he really going to make her eat this? What the hell had happened to make him force this upon her? She had thought he was a lot nicer than this…

As Zetsu shoved the warm, squishy human body part into her mouth Sakura's previous thought was destroyed. Of course he wasn't a "nice guy"… he was an Akatsuki member and an S-Class criminal.

Sakura felt tears leave her eyes as Zetsu held her nose shut to help encourage her to chew. Glaring her fierce emerald eyes at Zetsu, Sakura pried her mouth open just enough to spit the organ out into Zetsu's face.

Surprise filled Zetsu's eyes as he let go of her face and scrambled backward. Sakura felt a deep feeling of hatred spread through her as her eyes set on Zetsu.

He was exactly like she thought he would be… he was a sadistic, disgusting, horrible freak. How could she have joked around with him and teased him the past few months? Zetsu didn't say anything as he left the room, and Sakura felt the tears in her eyes continue to fall.

She just wanted to leave. Kami she wanted to leave so bad.

XxxX

Zetsu's stomach hurt worse than it had in the previous days, but he had done what he had planned to do. He had scared and hurt Sakura enough to make sure Itachi wouldn't be called in to interrogate her.

He hadn't liked himself for what he had done which was hard to admit. If it had been the months prior to meeting Sakura he wouldn't have even second guessed his action.

Heading to Leader-sama's office, Zetsu schooled his features and allowed an emotionless façade to cover him. Knocking on the door, Zetsu waited for Leader-sama's words before he entered.

"Zetsu," Leader-sama nodded in acknowledgement. The only way Zetsu noticed the nod was the bob of his eyes; Leader-sama was still covered in the shadows as always.

"Leader-sama," Zetsu bowed. "Why was I summoned here?"

"I'm going to call in Itachi," Leader-sama said, and Zetsu froze at his words. "When he gets back from his mission… Konan has told me that the Konoha ninja have been making their way in this direction at a rapid pace. We need to break the kunochi before they get here."

"I already broke her," Zetsu found himself saying before he could stop himself, because when the thought back to her, she had appeared to be very broken. The image of her hate-filled eyes glistening in tears caused his stomach to tighten again.

"Then Itachi breaking her even further will be of no consequence," Leader-sama said. "He will return in the next few days; make sure the kunochi does not die before then."

Zetsu bowed before he quickly left the room. He had no idea what Leader-sama had wanted Sakura for, other than keeping her to entice the Kyuubi into coming to them and making him lose his mind.

His fists shook with barely contained anger as he walked to his room. What was he going to do? He had always listened to Leader-sama before, and had followed his leadership without question, but now… now Zetsu wasn't sure what to do.

He had already caused Sakura's spirit to break, and he didn't want it to turn out to be something that couldn't be fixed… Itachi tended to play on people's fears; he didn't want to see Sakura that broken.

He had to come up with a plan. He had to do something. Channeling his body into the floor, Zetsu started to tunnel through the ground to find a place to think. He didn't have much time, and if he wanted to help Sakura he knew he would have to hurry.

XxxX

The next few days had been quiet as the only person to visit her had been the person to drop off her food and pick up her plates. Sakura refused to eat the food, however. She felt sick looking at any type of meat, and she even refused to eat anything green… they reminded her of Zetsu.

Even thinking about him caused Sakura to flinch at the treatment she had endured the last time she had seen him. It made her angry, and made hate herself for even trying to get close and trust another person while she was here…

She hated herself even more for the fact that she missed talking with him.

Sighing to herself, Sakura snuggled deeper into her knees while she closed her eyes. She knew the guard would be in to pick up her uneaten food soon. She wondered when or if they would notice she was trying to starve herself.

Feeling the chakra seal at the door flicker, Sakura kept her eyes closed as the door open. Feeling the chakra in front of her, Sakura froze.

She hadn't expected to see him again… after the last time they were together, Sakura had assume Zetsu would not appear before her. Biting back a snarl, Sakura opened her eyes and was equally as surprised to find the green haired man covered in blood… blood that was his own.

"What-"

" **You don't have much time** ," Zetsu said as he looked over to the plate of food that lay uneaten beside her. He seemed to sigh, before he took a step toward her. Sakura flinched at his steps; what was he talking about? "The Konoha nin will be here soon."

"Wait," Sakura said with a frown. "What are you talking about? Konoha?"

"I was able to lead them this way," Zetsu said with a nod as he turned back to the door. "They have been in Amekagure for the past week… **Allowing them to draw blood against me made it easy for me to leave a trail for them to follow**."

"Zetsu," Sakura's voice held an untrusting edge to it. "What are you talking about? Why would you lead them here?"

" **Itachi was going to break you** ," Zetsu said as he stood in the open doorway. "I couldn't… I **won't** watch him do that."

"But you-"

"Your teammates will be here within the next few minutes," Zetsu said with a tilt of his head. **"As a member of the Akatsuki I must fight against them…"**

"Wait Zetsu," Sakura was still confused and she couldn't help but reach toward him as he walked out the door. "Why?"

"Goodbye Sakura **,"** Zetsu said as he started to burrow into the floor. " **I'm still bitter about not getting to taste you…** maybe we will meet another time."

Sakura watched him disappear and couldn't help the tight feeling she felt within her stomach… Had he just help save her? Why would… why would he do that?

XxxX

It hadn't taken her team long to find her, and it took them an even shorter time to leave the base. She was in tears when Naruto, Kakashi, and Jiraiya had found her. They were tears for being found, tears for leaving the base, and tears for what Zetsu had done for her.

The action of saving her had confused her, but after spending four months within the Akatsuki base, Sakura didn't want to stick around to find out why he had done it. Though she wanted to know, she knew the dangers her teammates were in just being there.

On the way back to Konoha, the team of four had been intercepted by two anbu teams, and they had gotten back to Konoha without incident.

On one of her first days back in Konoha, Sakura had found herself selling her apartment. It had been a spur of the moment thing, but after everything that had happened to her, Sakura knew no one would question her action.

They were all happy to have her home, but after being kept as a prisoner for over four months, a lot of her friends didn't know what to say to her anymore, and often left her alone.

When she was alone she found herself often missing a certain bicolored male's blunt honesty and conversation. Even after everything that had happened, Sakura missed him.

After selling her apartment, Sakura had scoured the city looking for something specific, and she hadn't even known she had found it until she had stumbled upon it.

On one of her walks through the outskirts of Konoha, Sakura had stumbled upon a small house that had a for sale sign on it. The house itself wasn't impressive, but the two acres of land that came with it were.

The two acres of land would be perfect for the garden she had wanted to start. She was going to grow all different kinds of plants and herbs that she could use for the hospital. She was also going to grow some flowers that didn't need to be used though, too.

She had never really had a green thumb, but Sakura had a feeling that whatever she would plant in the fields would grow well.

She had a feeling someone would be watching over her garden as it grew… that feeling was more like an actuality after she had found the first decomposed limb in the field being used as fertilizer.

She hadn't felt his chakra anywhere, but sure enough he had been there. At the moment, it was enough knowing he was alive.

Sakura hoped that in autumn when the plants bloomed she would get a chance to see her elusive gardener…

She was going to have a lot of vegetables to thank him for... She might even not eat some of them as him as a thank you.


End file.
